Apparatus for extinguishing oil and gas well fires



J. P. COLLINS Dec. 5, 1933.

Filed Aug. 26. 1929 i\ a Z? INVENTbR" JOSEPH P COLL/N5 ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 5, I933 APPARATUS FO EXTINGUISHING- 01L GAS. WELL FIREs AND- Joseph P. CbllinaBakersfield, Calif;

. Application'Augur t 26, 1929., Serial. No; 388,540 Claims, (C1. V V

Myinven'tio'n relates to and has for its purpose the provision of an apparatus by which oil, gas or other vfluid issuing from a well, can be controlled in a manner to extinguish a burning oil or gas p well; or in the case of ,a gusher, to enable workmen to approach the gusher without being subjected to a shower of .oil from the ascending oil column, 7

I will describe only one form of apparatus for 1,0 extinguishing oil and gas well fires and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

.In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a View showing in plan one form of apparatus embodying my invention.

15 Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, and illustrating one position of the apparatus with respect to a burning well.

Figure 3 is a view similar to figure 2 and illus- ,29 trati-ng another position of the apparatus with respect to the well, and i i I, V

Figure -4- is a detail sectional view taken on the I line 44.of Figure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows. V a T.

Referring specifically to the drawing in which similar reference characters designate similar par-ts in each of the several views, myinventio'n in its present embodiment comprises acarriage C constructed of a pair of spaced apart and par- ,39 :allel iongitudinal memberslO and 11 and-a pair of spaced apart and parallel transverse members 12 and 13 secured in intersecting. relation to the longitudinal membersby bolts 14 or other fastening members. The longitudinal and transverse 5t} members are in the form of metal beams prefer.- ably of discarded railroad rails for the sake of cheapness and to render the carriage of great eight so as'to prevent its being lifted'ofioffthe ground'under the .forceoi a colum'nfot burning 40 fluid issuing from a well.

One end of each longitudinal member and.

11, is curved'upwardly as indicated at 15 andis connected to one end of a suitable hauling..cablel6 adapted to be connected at its other end toa g5 motor truck, tractor, or other hauling apparatus,

ior pulling loi .thelcarria'gejthereby over the ground. Other cables 17 are connected to the members 10 and 11 for pulling the frame laterally to aid in placing the-frame. in the desired to position withresp'ect to awell. I p

' Intermediate the longitudinal and transverse members 12 and 1-3, is supported in .an upright position on the carriage, an open ended conduit 18, the lower openend of which constitutes an {:5 inlet and the upper end an outlet for a columnof v height of the conduit 18.

burning fluid issuing. from a well. The conduit which is'preferably constructed of heavy gauge metal pipe is of somewhat larger than the diam? eter'of the bore hole from whichthe column .of

burning fluid is issuing, and the conduit is sup? 6( ported from the carriage with its lower end substantially at the ground level or in contact with i the ground, by means'of straps 19 secured'to the conduit and to the transverse members of the carriage-bysuitable fastening members, Th'econg5 duit is: supported in its upright position by guy wires 19. connected at intervals to the conduit and to the carriage. The conduit 18 broadly constitutes a means operable when brought to a position directly over the bore hole of a burning 79 well, to confine the column of burning fluid to a predetermined height above the ground level,

' Directly to the rear of the conduit 18,.a second and open ended conduit 20, also formed of heavy gauge metalpipe of the same diameter as the con- 7 5 duit 18, is supportedion the carriage by other side of the latter.-

The conduit 241 preferably curves upwardly and e rearwardly of the carriage C, so that its upper open end which constitutes' an outlet, is directed away'from the conduit 18 and is disposed 'at'a considerable distance rearwardlyyof the latter. The conduit 20 is also supported by guy wires 22 connected thereto and to the conduit 18, and other guy wires" 23 connected to the carriage.

The conduit 20 broadly constitutes a means for directing and conductingfjluid issuing from a well, away fro'm'the conduitls for a considerable distance before the fluid discharges from the conduit" 20 ,intothe atmosphere in a substantially horizontal directionjor a direction other than vertical, and ate. height "preferably less than the It will be noted that the confronting sides of the conduits 18 and 20 at the lower ends thereof, are flattened as indicated at 24; in Figure 4 so as to preventescapei of fluid around the conduits betweenthe two when the apparatus is moved 195 withrespect tdthe well from the position shown in Figure 2 to that shown in Figure 3. y

In the operation of the apparatus, the carriage .C'isfirst drawn over the ground by a suitab le hauling apparatus attached to the cable'l'l, to 110 above the ground, and excludes the air necessary to support combustion therein, the confined portion of the burning fluid column extinguishes. That portion of the fluid column above the upper end of the conduit 18 continues to burn as it is constantly being fed by unburned fluid ejected from the upper end of the conduit.

Should there be any burning debris or other material on the ground in the vicinity of the well, this is now extinguished by water, chemicals or other suitable means, after which the carriage is quickly moved forwardly by the hauling apparatus from the position shown in Figure 2 to that shown in Figure 3 wherein the conduit 18 is moved out of registration with the bore hole, and

the lower open end of the conduit 20 into registration with the bore hole, thus separating or cutting off from the conduit 18, the supply of unburned fluid issuing from the bore hole, and permitting the unburned fluid to discharge into the open lower end of the conduit 20. The unburned fluid issuing from the bore hole is now directed and conducted by the conduit 20, laterally away from the conduit 18 a suflicient distance before discharging from the conduit 20, to prevent its ignition by the burning column of fluid above the conduit 18. As the burning column of fluid above the conduit 18 is no longer being fed with unburned fluid from the well, it quickly burns out, and the fire is thereby completely extinguished.

It is to be understood that in the event any appreciable wind is blowing during the extinguishing operation, the forward direction of movement of the carriage Cwill preferably be 1 directly opposite to the direction of the wind, so

as to insure that the force of the wind will not blow any of the unburned fluid when discharging from the conduit 20, in sufliciently close proximity to the'burning column of oil above the conduit 18, to cause its ignition.

From the foregoing description, it will be manifest that by my apparatus, a burning well can be extinguished with the utmost ease and dispatch, and that by moving the conduits '18 and 20 laterally across the column of fluid issuing from a well so that only the end edges of the conduits are presented to the upwardly moving fluid column, that the tendency of the latter to raise or overturn the apparatus will be overcome, as the movement of the fluid column at its high velocity and pressure is practically unobstructed by the conduits.

In the event of a gusher in which oil is issuing from a well under gas pressure or in extinguishing a fire at a well from which only burning gas is issuing, the upright conduit 18 can'be dispensed shower of oil which would otherwise fall around the hole from the ascending oil column.

In using the conduit 20 to extinguish a burning gas well, the carriage C is moved over the ground until the lower open end of the conduit registers with the hole, thus causing the column of burning gas to be directed upwardly and laterally of the hole through the conduit and the burning gas thereby caused to be extinguished in the conduit, and the gas to burn only beyond the laterally directed outlet at the upper end of the conduit. Should there be any burning debris around the hole, this is now extinguished by water or other suitable means, after which the carriage is shifted to move the lower end of the conduit 20 clear of the hole so as to permit the unburning gas now issuing from the hole, to ascend vertically. As the supply of gas from the hole through the conduit to the gas burning beyond the outlet of the conduit, is now out off, the gas issuing from the conduit will burn itself out, and the fire willthus be entirely extinguished.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of apparatus for extinguishing oil and gas well fires embodying my invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modiflcations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

L'An apparatus of the character described comprising a carriage movable over the ground, means supported by the carriage for confining a column of burning fluid issuing from a well, to a predetermined elevation above the ground level to cause the confined portion of the fluid column to extinguish and the fluid column to burn only above its confined portion, when the carriage is moved to one position with respect to the well hole, and means supported by the carriage for directing the unburning portion of the fluid column as issuing from the mouth of the well, away from the burning portion when the carriage is moved to a second position with respect to the well hole, so as to cease feeding the burningportion'with unburned fluid, and thereby cause the burning portion of the fluid column to extinguish.

2. An apparatus of the character described comprising a carriage movable over theground, an upright open ended conduit supported by the carriage, for positioning to receive and confine to a predetermined height above the ground, a column of burning fluid issuing fromthe mouth of a well, and a second conduit supported'by the carriage, having its upper end open and directed away from the upright conduit at one side of the latter, and its lower end open and in close proximity to the lower end of the upright conduit, for positioning to receive and direct fluid issuing from the mouth of the well in a direction laterally away from the upright conduit. i

3. An apparatus of the character described comprisng a carriage movable over the ground, an upright open ended conduit supported by the carriage, for positioning to receive and confine to a predetermined height above the ground, a column of burning fluid issuing from the mouth of a well, and a second conduit supported by the carriage; having its upper end open and directed away from the upright conduit at one side of the latter, and its lower end open and forming a continuation of the upright conduit at one side of the latter'for positioning to receive and direct fiuid issuing from the mouth of the well in a direction laterally away from the upright conduit.

4. An apparatus of the character described comprising a carriage movable over the ground, an upright open ended conduit supported by the carriage, for positioning to receive and confine to a predetermined height above the ground,

its open lower end in close proximityto the lower open end of the upright.

5. An apparatus of the character described comprising a carriage movable over the ground, a conduit supported by the carriage in an upright position and having a downwardly open-,

ing inlet at its lower end and an upwardly opening outlet at its upper end, and a second a downwardly opening inlet at its lower end in conduit supported-by the carriage, and having close proximity to the inlet of the first conduit,

and an outlet at its upper end opening in a direction away from the first conduit.

I JOSEPH P. COLLINS. 

